Fireside Chat
“Grandma, Why do you always study your ancestors?”
“To find out what our rights are, son,” she replied. “What rights?”
“Well, let me try to explain. We have rights guaranteed by the Constitution. They were guaranteed to our grandfathers and to their descendants forever. If someone took away our rights, we might get them back some day if the old rulers return to power.”
“That’s the way it was in Scotland and England. Rights and possessions were given to our ancestors and their descendants forever. We are the descendants. Our ancestor lost his possessions when a new king came to power. If a descendant of the old king comes back into power we might get our possessions back again.”
“Grandma, I don’t understand.”
“That’s all right, son. One day you will.”
Enfiefment
THOSE WORDS WERE SPOKEN LONG AGO. Now, I’m pushing seventy, and for the first time I’m beginning to understand “enfiefment.”